11 Year-old Is 'America's Top Young Scientist'

11 Year-old Is 'America's Top Young Scientist'

Preteen is Youngest Student Ever to Win the Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge

Over $100,000 in Scholarships & Prizes awarded in Environmentally Focused Challenge

SILVER SPRING, Md., Oct. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Out of an original field of more than 79,000 middle school students across the United States, 11 year-old Erik Gustafson was chosen today as "America's Top Young Scientist of the Year" by a panel of judges at the 9th annual Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge (DCYSC). Gustafson, the youngest student in this year's competition and a student at Homer Intermediate School in Cortland, New York was selected as the grand prize winner from an elite group of forty of the top young scientists in the nation and was awarded a $20,000 college scholarship. He is the youngest student ever to win the title of "America's Top Young Scientist."

In addition to showing exemplary science communication skills at the Challenge, Erik completed an innovative research project closely related to this year's green theme, tracking the pH level in the stream behind his house and the effect of rainfall in increasing the acidity of the water.

The second-place winner in the competition is 14 year-old Katherine Strube of Glendale, Missouri, and third place winner is 14 year-old Ambrose Soehn of Boulder, Colorado. The best team in the competition, composed of Shalom Rottman-Yang (TN), Samantha Gonzalez (TX), Alyssa Chan (CA), Ambrose Soehn (CO), and Rick Schaffer (FL), won a research trip to Grand Teton National Park. Other top prizes include:

   -- Karl Sorensen (VA) won the "Star Gazer" Prize, allowing him to      travel to the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff and work with      astronomers at a research station at Anderson Mesa.   -- Colin McAliley (FL) won the "Planet Green" Prize, allowing him      to go on a multi-day field trip to ecologically important lands      and waters with The Nature Conservancy.   -- Gokul Krishnan (IL) won the "Build It Bigger" Prize, allowing      him to join Build It Bigger host Danny Forster on a tour of      Manhattan's skyline.   -- Laurie Rumker (OR) won the "Forensics Camp" Prize, allowing her      to attend a two week camp focused on forensic science at Union      College.   -- Prem Thottumkara (IL) won the "Emerging Networks' U.S. Space and      Rocket Center" Prize, allowing him to attend Space Camp or the      Aviation Challenge in Huntsville, Alabama.   -- Darby Woodard (SC) won the "Animals Everywhere" Prize sponsored      by Animal Planet/Discovery Kids, allowing her to have a behind      the scenes tour of the National Aquarium in Baltimore.   -- Rohit Kamat (TX) won the "Discovery Commerce" Prize, providing      him a $1,000 gift card to Discoverystore.com and the 5-DVD gift      set of Planet Earth.   

In addition, Erik Gustafson, Brandon Shih (NY), Alyssa Chan, and Catherine Haber (CA) will participate in an upcoming episode of the Discovery Channel's hit program Mythbusters with hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman.

"Congratulations to Erik and all our winners who inspire everyone around them to get excited about science," said David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery Communications. "Discovery is proud to continue our longstanding tradition of supporting middle school education and students like Erik who are the next generation of American scientists."

"These are tremendously bright and talented students," said Head Judge Steven Jacobs. "They undertook experiments in the past few days to address some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our day -- from using alternative energies for transportation to mitigating global warming. I hope they continue to pursue their love of science and look forward to hearing about their successes in the future."

"DCYSC finalists represent the future of American innovation and accomplishment in the sciences," said Elizabeth Marincola, President of Science Service. "Science Service is proud to join with Discovery Communications in congratulating Erik Gustafson, Katherine Strube, and Ambrose Soehn, the other top finalists, and their families, on their accomplishments. We share in the pride and excitement of all 40 finalists in 2007 who have so wonderfully applied their natural affinity to research and communication and who now serve as inspiration to their generation of young scientists."

The DCYSC, created by Discovery Communications and Science Service, provides students the opportunity to not only test their knowledge and push their limits as they explore the world of science, but the competition encourages them to be able to be great science communicators and share what they know with others, a core objective of Discovery's efforts. The DCYSC is the nation's premier science contest for students in grades 5-8.

The theme of this year's DCYSC, "Operation Green" presented the 40 students with a series of environmentally themed challenges, each requiring the young scientists to rely on their broad range of scientific knowledge in order to explore and understand today's climate issues. The students worked on a wide range of experiments to test their science skills, from powering a car with alternative energy to solving America's trash problem.

The Finalists

The 40 finalists, and contenders for the title of "America's Top Young Scientist," hailed from 22 states. The top states represented are California, Florida, and Texas with 5 finalists each, followed by Arizona (3). States that sent two finalists to this year's challenge were Illinois, New York, Oregon, and Texas. Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington each sent a representative to the competition.

The finalists were chosen based on their written essays about science fair projects that each had presented at their local science fairs across the country. During the DCYSC finals, the finalists presented their research to judges and the public, using their communication skills and creative thinking as science communicators to explain the complexities of their research.

Bios and interviews with the finalists, as well as B-roll of the Challenge, are available upon request. The full list of 40 finalists, their hometowns and schools and the titles of their winning entries can be found at: http://www.discovery.com/dcysc. More information about the Discovery Channel Young Scientist's Challenge can be found in the School Resources section of Discovery Education's website www.discoveryeducation.com. Discovery Education, a division of Discovery Communications, produces and distributes high-quality digital resources in easy-to-use formats in all core-curricular subject areas. Discovery Education is committed to creating scientifically proven, standards-based digital resources for teachers, students, and parents that make a positive impact on student learning. Today, 1 million educators and 30 million students in more than half of U.S. schools learn with Discovery Education tools, including Discovery Education Science. Discovery Education Science is a digital middle-school science resource that engages today's technology-savvy students and helps educators grow scientific literacy and improve student achievement.

About the Competition

In 1999, Discovery Communications and Science Service created the DCYSC to help address America's chronic underachievement in science and math. The contest responds to evidence that academic performance and interest in science among American students declines dramatically as students get older -- particularly during the middle school years.

The DCYSC identifies and honors America's top middle school student who demonstrates the best skills in leadership, teamwork and scientific problem solving. In addition, the ability to be an effective science communicator - a goal that reflects Discovery's philosophy that scientific knowledge is most valuable when it is communicated and shared -- is a key component of the judging.

Winners have received approximately $700,000 in scholarship awards and federal government recognition, and have participated in science-related trips that have taken them to the far corners of the globe.

Discovery is pleased to have Elmer's as a DCYSC sponsor. Elmer's has a proud tradition of supporting education, including science. Elmer's believes science taught through Science Fairs serves as a major benefit to students, allowing them to develop skills in problem solving, research, writing, public speaking and time management.

Discovery Communications, Inc. is the number-one nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 170 countries. Through TV and digital media, Discovery's 100-plus worldwide networks include Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, The Science Channel, Discovery Health and HD Theater. Discovery Communications is owned by Discovery Holding Co. (NASDAQ:DISCA) (NASDAQ:DISCB) , Advance/Newhouse Communications and John S. Hendricks, Discovery's founder and chairman. For more information please visit http://www.discoverycommunications.com/.

Science Service is the non-profit organization that administers the DCYSC. Based in Washington, DC, Science Service is dedicated to advancing the understanding and appreciation of science around the globe through its publications, outreach, and educational programs. A leading and widely respected organization advancing the cause of science, Science Service has a sterling reputation for producing high-quality competitions on the national and international level, including the Intel Science Talent Search and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Science Service also publishes Science News magazine, reaching over 1 million readers weekly, as well as the online, interactive Science News for Kids (http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/). For more information about Science Service, its programs, and publications, please visit http://www.sciserv.org/.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Discovery Communications

CONTACT: Samantha Anderson for the Discovery Channel, +1-773-456-1456;
or Tammy Shea of Discovery Communications, +1-240-662-6506

Web Site: http://www.discovery.com/dcysc
http://www.discoverycommunications.com/
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/
http://www.sciserv.org/

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